BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team improved 11 spots since the May 10 Intercollegiate Tennis Association/Wingspan.com poll up to No. 21 in the nation as the final rankings of the 2000 season were released.
“I’m extremely proud of this team and what they accomplished this season,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “Before the season started, our goals were to reach the Sweet 16 and to finish ranked among the top 25. We struggled at times this year, but the team really came together in the NCAA Tournament and we accomplished both of our goals.”
The Lady Tigers finished the season with a 16-11 overall record and their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1995. LSU defeated 42nd-ranked Iowa in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, 5-3, then upset eighth-ranked Pepperdine, 5-4, to reach the NCAA Championships.
LSU’s No. 21 final ranking is the program’s best finish since 1997 when the Lady Tigers went 18-9 and finished ranked 20th in the nation.
The Lady Tigers’ Bruna Colosio and Ana Paula Mores both finished the season ranked among the top 100 singles players in the nation. Colosio ended her sophomore season as the ninth-ranked player in the nation, while Mores, LSU’s lone senior, finished with a No. 75 ranking.
In the final doubles rankings, the duo of Colosio and Mores ended the season as the fourth-ranked doubles pair in the nation.
The three doubles teams that finished the season ranked higher than Colosio/Mores were Georgia’s Marrisa Catlin and Lori Grey, California’s Claire Curran and Amy Jensen, and Zuzana Lesenarova and Katarina Valykova from the University of San Diego. Catlin and Grey won the 2000 NCAA Doubles Championship last week in Malibu, Calif.
“It says a lot about both Ana and Bruna’s commitment to the program this season with the way that they finished in the rankings,” Minnis said. “They both practice very hard and are excellent workers. They deserve the honor of ending the season ranked among the best in the nation.”
Colosio, who finished the 1999-2000 season with a stellar 38-9 overall record, became the only player in Lady Tiger history to end the season ranked in the top 10.
In 1997, LSU’s Suzana Rodrigues finished as the 22nd-ranked player in the nation. Prior to Colosio’s No. 9 final ranking this season, Rodrigues’ No. 22 finish had been the highest ranking in LSU history.
Last season, Colosio ended the season as the 45th-ranked player in the nation, and Colosio and Mores finished as the No. 35 doubles team.
With a final overall record of 23-7 during the 1999-2000 season and by advancing to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Doubles Championship, Colosio and Mores ended the season ranked fourth in the nation.
The final No. 4 ranking by Colosio and Mores is the highest final doubles ranking in Lady Tiger history. The prior mark was held by Suzana Rodrigues and Laura Olave with a final No. 10 ranking in 1997.
Eleven of the 12 Southeastern Conference teams finished the season ranked nationally. Alabama was the only SEC team not to finish among the top 75 teams in the nation.
The Georgia Lady Bulldogs were victorious in the 2000 NCAA Team Championship title match by beating the undefeated Stanford Cardinal, 5-4, in Malibu, Calif. The SEC has produced five of the previous nine team champions with Florida winning three titles (1992, 1996, and 1998) and Georgia taking the other two (1994 and 2000).
FINAL NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S TENNIS TEAM RANKINGS
1. Georgia 27-2
2. Stanford 30-1
3. Florida 25-3
4. California 21-7
5. Wake Forest 24-3
6. UCLA 17-9
7. Duke 23-6
8. Texas 24-6
9. Arizona State 15-8
10. Pepperdine 21-5
T11. Vanderbilt 22-6
T11. Southern California 18-9
13. Notre Dame 23-7
14. South Alabama 21-4
15. Northwestern 22-5
16. William and Mary 20-9
17. Tennessee 20-12
18. Mississippi 16-8
19. Baylor 22-5
20. South Carolina 16-12
21. LSU 16-11
22. Florida State 17-9
23. Ohio State 18-8
24. Arizona 10-12
25. Tulsa 21-6